William and Mary women’s soccer (0-4-2, 0-0 CAA) remains winless after dropping a 0-2 match to Liberty (5-2-1, 0-0 CUSA) Thursday, Sept. 3 at Martin Family Stadium at Albert-Daly Field in Williamsburg, Va. The loss came before a 2-2 home draw to Virginia Commonwealth (0-5-2, 0-0 A-10) Sunday, Sept. 6.
Under harsh conditions Thursday night, with feels-like temperatures reaching nearly 100 degrees, the Tribe looked to end a three-game losing streak stretching back to its season-opening draw.
In the opening stages of the game, however, it was the visiting Flames who set the tempo.
Through intricate build-up play and sharp passes in the final third, the Flames forced the Tribe defense into action early with multiple clearances in its own box.
In the 5th minute, Tribe junior goalkeeper Mia Tegeris was forced into her first stop of the game after a looping header from Liberty fifth-year defender Sallie Garner.
Directly following Garner’s shot on goal, the Tribe built its first tangible attack of the game, earning its first corner kick.
Senior defender Ava Schultz found herself unmarked in the box on the corresponding corner kick delivery, but her header sailed over the bar.
The visiting Flames continued to dominate possession through the middle of the first period, working the ball into the Tribe half with ease.
Tegeris made another straightforward stop in the 12th minute, before fifth-year forward Halle Engle saw a deflected shot trickle just past the right post.
Looking to turn around the one-way traffic that marked the first half of play, sophomore forward Ellie Leffler worked tirelessly to hold the ball up and give time for her teammates to get up the field — largely to no avail, however. William and Mary managed just one off-target shot in the first 45 minutes.
Despite a clear 8-1 shot advantage for Liberty, the game remained scoreless heading into halftime. Schultz’s seventh-minute header stood as the best scoring opportunity for either side.
“I think we did really well to keep them at ‘zeros’ for the half,” head coach Julie Shackford ’88 said.
The Tribe began the second half with more pace, launching an attack in the first 90 seconds down the right side, which the Liberty defense cleared for a Tribe corner. However, the delivery failed to beat the first defender, squandering the opportunity.
The Tribe continued to press forward, with sophomore midfielder Mia Abbey dribbling past multiple defenders to earn another corner that again yielded no results.
After failing to capitalize on those early second-half chances, the Tribe was immediately punished. On the counterattack, Engle cut inside onto her right foot and drove a shot into the top right corner, beating Tegeris to give Liberty a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute.
Shackford described the shot as “beautiful” and unsavable.
The pressure on the Tribe defense intensified, forcing Tegeris into three saves over the next five minutes.
As William and Mary searched for an equalizer, Liberty sixth-year goalkeeper Ainsley Leja constantly cut off any chances the Tribe could get. Playing as a sweeper-keeper, Leja repeatedly snuffed out footraces against the Tribe attack well outside her 18-yard box.
With the clock winding down and no clear chances materializing, William and Mary pushed numbers forward into the box. Liberty took advantage of the exposed defense in the 86th minute, when junior defender Avery Paulson played junior forward Margaret Garner through for a one-on-one finish past Tegeris to secure the 2-0 victory.
“It is a risk you take when you start throwing numbers forward that you are going to get caught on the counter,” Shackford said. “You just kind of have to go for it.”
Despite conceding the two goals, Tegeris finished with nine saves, including multiple point-blank range stops on her goal line.
After the match, Shackford acknowledged the physical gap between the teams.
“If you put player for player, they outmatch us a little bit athletically,” she said.
After recording just three shots over the full 90 minutes and zero attempts on target, Shackford focused on refining the attack for Sunday’s match against VCU.
Within 17 minutes of that game, the Tribe matched its total shot count from Thursday, forcing a save from VCU redshirt junior goalkeeper Cameryn Nunn.
The Rams’ attack posed a challenge for Tribe sophomore goalkeeper Gwen Doughty, who returned to the starting lineup after sitting out Thursday night. Doughty recorded three first-half saves.
Despite the improved offensive display, the halftime score read 0-0 for the second consecutive game.
Immediately after the second half started, the game launched into back-and-forth action.
After being denied space on Thursday, Leffler broke the deadlock in the 48th minute, slotting the ball past Nunn and recording her second goal of the season.
Minutes later, the Tribe nearly doubled its lead when Abbey struck the left post. VCU responded in the 56th minute with an equalizer from sophomore midfielder/forward Jess Gotshall.
The Tribe answered in the 63rd minute as Leffler converted a cross from junior defender Kenley Campbell for her second goal of the match and third of the season.
The lead was short-lived, however. In the 66th minute, VCU freshman forward Monique McEnhimer found the net to tie the match at 2-2.
Both goalkeepers made key saves over the final 24 minutes as the teams searched for a game-winner. The match ended in a draw, snapping William and Mary’s four-game losing streak.
The Tribe will return to action Sunday, Sept. 13 in pursuit of its first win against American (0-4-2, 0-0 Patriot) at John M. Reeves Memorial Soccer Field in Washington, D.C.
